I Could Read the Sky

By Timothy O'Grady, Steve Pyke (photographer),

Book cover of I Could Read the Sky

Book description

'Think about a tune ... the unsayable, the invisible, the longing in music. Here is a book of tunes without musical notes ... It wrings the heart' John Berger

'The voice that O'Grady has crafted succeeds so well...running in parallel, Pyke's stark arresting images are laced between the paragraphs and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked I Could Read the Sky as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I treasure this book as I treasure the memory of my long-dead father, for this transcendently sad and beautiful book takes me into a world close in spirit to that of his own life. His own experience was the experience of the immigrant worker, the Irish rural one.

With the astonishing new economic prosperity of Ireland, the London of the book is no longer there. The prose of O’Grady and the photos of Pike constantly play one across the other to shattering effect. The book was made into a fine film.

Readers will note a certain interplay across my choices…

From Patrick's list on vanishing human worlds.

If you love I Could Read the Sky...

Ad

Book cover of Feral Maril & Her Little Brother Carol

Feral Maril & Her Little Brother Carol By Leslie Tall Manning,

Winner of the Literary Titan Book Award

Bright but unassuming Marilyn Jones has some grown-up decisions to make, especially after Mama goes to prison for drugs and larceny. With no one to take care of them, Marilyn and her younger, mentally challenged brother, Carol, get tossed into the foster care…

Want books like I Could Read the Sky?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like I Could Read the Sky.

Browse books like I Could Read the Sky

Book cover of The Radetzky March
Book cover of Voices of the Old Sea
Book cover of Pig Earth

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,629

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like I Could Read the Sky, you might also like...

Book cover of At What Cost, Silence?

At What Cost, Silence? By Karen Lynne Klink,

Secrets, misunderstandings, and a plethora of family conflicts abound in this historical novel set along the Brazos River in antebellum Washington County, East Texas.

It is a compelling story of two neighboring plantation families and a few of the enslaved people who serve them. These two plantations are a microcosm…

Book cover of A Sparrow Falls

A Sparrow Falls By Vicki Olsen,

In this book set against the backdrop of a changing America, Sarah must find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past and come to terms with her future. Sarah, a young woman from the rural town of Tolerance, Arkansas, has endured an impoverished and painful childhood.

But now,…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Ireland, old man, and the Republic of Ireland?

Ireland 314 books
Old Man 19 books